Mitsubishi wireless EV research could recharge your car remotely

Mitsubishi is currently struggling in the United States as an automaker after finding its products unable to compete effectively on the market in most segments. Despite the company’s troubles, it hasn’t stepped away from research and development when it comes to making electric vehicles more practical for your average driver. Currently there are several things about electric vehicles that are preventing them from gaining popularity.

Issues often cited by shoppers when looking for a new vehicle that specifically apply to EV’s include things like range anxiety and having to remember to plug your vehicle in every time you come home or get to the office. With the huge ecosystem of wireless charging products available for smartphones and other gadgets, it makes a lot of sense that people don’t want to have to fiddle with plugging in their car when they get home. Mitsubishi is currently working on a new charging system for electric vehicles that will allow for wireless remote charging.

Mitsubishi is working with Kyoto University and a group of Japanese organizations to develop a remote charging solution for electric cars. The group consists of 22 companies and 13 different universities with the goal of making a long distance electric vehicle charging a reality within the next five years. The technology will reportedly use microwave transmissions, but that’s really the only detail known about the tech this time.

The same technology is also being considered to keep gadgets such as smartphones and tablets powered up and working indefinitely. It’s even being considered for powering things like military drones indefinitely. The goal of the group of developers with this technology appears to be wireless remote charging with the potential to keep an electric vehicle powered as it cruises down the roads allowing an indefinite driving range. I can see a big challenge with determining how exactly the charge drivers for power in a system like this. Considering the Mitsubishi is working with so many other universities and organizations on this technology, it will likely find its way to vehicles other than Mitsubishi’s own i-MiEV electric car.